2024-25 Campaign
Empower Girls in Rwanda Through Literature.
Support our fourth cohort of Her Voice Matters (HVM) participants and our newest initiative - The Ignite Program!
The impact of Covid 19 on our Girls
Covid 19 impacted everyone in the world in various ways, as an organisation we have also been hit but we had to find ways to continue impacting our community since the work that we are doing should not stop.
Through the recently concluded writing competition, we noticed that some of our girls had to undergo difficulties that in most cases would pull them to fall into temptation that would ruin their lives due to poverty and hunger in some cases.
One girl said and I quote :” Personally, I struggled with several challenges due to COVID-19. During lockdown, my parents had to stop their business activity, which our family survived on. Because my parents weren’t able to work, we faced the issue of food scarcity. I spent some days without eating. Not having food to eat was extremely difficult, so much so that I will never forget this period in my life.”
This was during the first lockdown that began last year 2020 in march and ended in November. On the 18th February 2021 the Rwandan government decided a closure of Kigali, which meant that all businesses, government entities and all schools were put in a lockdown again.
Our girls are back to a lockdown and we feel as an organisation and our partners we should intervene and provide some sort of relief to sustain them through this difficult and traagic time the world is facing but for students in kigali mostly our girls respondents, who are hit double since they have to live the consequences of COVID but also those of not attending school.
The government of Rwanda has put in place various relief programs to help its citizens by providing food and some essential needed staff to eligible people mostly from the most affected category of people who used to eat after working ( day to day employees).
But also the civil society has also intervened to this cause by also generating relief programs to sustain the government’s effort to help the citizens of Rwanda.
But despite all this effort, it is not still enough to sustain all the families that were badly hit by the pandemic.
Please put back a smile on a girls’ face and help support her leadership journey during these difficult times. Please consider making a donation to Generation Rise.
Dear Friend,
As you might know, I was one of the few Rwandan girls who were lucky enough to grow up surrounded by books despite the challenging and changing times in Rwanda I am grateful for how the stories I read impacted my life and the lives of other young girls in my school. I truly believe reading empowered me, and I am happy to not have to imagine a world where I was not able to sit in the corner of my house reading books, cover to cover, one after the next, for hours each day.
Many other girls in my Rwandan community are so thirsty for the knowledge that books can offer them too. However, most of them do not have the ability to access any books. There are numerous barriers that prevent our youth from enjoying their full rights as human beings and potential to become our future leaders. I will not let the inability to access and read books continue to be one.
Through Generation Rise's program, Her Voice Matters, we are working to change the present and future lives of young rural girls. We have known the power that books can have on youth and have strong evidence showing how our reading and leadership development series really do work! Knowing the efficacy and potential of Generation Rise’s initiatives on girls, we are committed to making a lasting impact on the teachers, students, and schools we work with by continuing to grow and implement reading, writing, and critical thinking programs throughout schools in Rwanda.
In order to grow our program and help more eager, young women, we are reaching out to YOU today to join us on our journey.
To provide a sense of the purchasing power of a dollar, a $5 donation buys a copy of Humura Shenge by Perepetuwa Mukahigiro or We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – two books used to kick off our program every term. These two books encourage girls to challenge the norms that have held the back and help foster the journey of self discovery and empowerment. No contribution is too small and we will make sure any amount given makes an impact in the lives of girls here in Rwanda.
We are excited to continue pushing boundaries and empowering the voices of our communities that are normally, and unfortunately, unheard. We are committed to sustainability and increasing support for the voices of girls through Generation Rise around the world.
If you share our vision and passion, please consider supporting our program by donating through our online sponsorship platform, on Mothering Across Continents by clicking here! If you are able to contribute, we will also ensure that you are added to our newsletter so that you may continue to be updated on our programs and how your donation is impacting the lives of girls in Rwanda.
Together, Let's make books rain and fall in the hands of our young girls!
Solange
Executive Director, Generation Rise